The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

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Received too late for review: Vol. II of Caro's monumental history of LBJ. Through what the publisher calls "a special distribution arrangement," books will arrive in bookstores around the country on one day only, 3/14--possibly to orchestrate interest in what the publisher describes as "the heart of this book," Caro's revelations about exactly how Johnson won--by 87 votes, in a runoff campaign that's been tainted by rumor for 40 years--the Texas senatorial election of 1948. Even those revelations aside, this volume--with a first printing of 250,000--is likely to be extraordinary: Vol. I, The Path to Power, was named best nonfiction book of 1982 by the National Book Critics Circle, while Caro's 1974 biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker, won a Pulitzer.

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